Announcing Phone Numbers in 70 countries, Transparent Toll-Free Pricing, and Hosted SMS

Announcing Phone Numbers in 70 countries, Transparent Toll-Free Pricing, and Hosted SMS

• SMS in 5 new countries, Voice in 13 new countries, Toll-free in 27 new countries.
• Toll-free priced by inbound caller type lets you pay only for what you use.
• Add SMS to your existing US & CA phone numbers without changing voice providers.

Having the right tool for the job makes all the difference. When engaging with your customers, phone numbers are a great example of how picking the wrong type of phone number can stop you in your tracks.  Each method of communications, from making outbound calls, to receiving inbound calls, to exchanging SMS all require different approaches to phone numbers. That’s why giving you a vast and diverse set of phone number options is so important. And that’s why we are so excited to announce three big ships:

• 45 new phone number types, for a total of 70 countries: Twilio is adding Programmable SMS numbers in 5 new countries, Programmable Voice / SIP Trunking numbers in 13 new countries, and toll-free numbers in 27 new countries. This means you can now provision Twilio phone numbers in 70+ countries.
• Toll-free pricing transparency: In countries where carriers charge a different rate based on the type of phone that calls the toll-free number, we will now show you the pricing difference to help you manage your costs.
• Hosted SMS:  In the US and Canada you can now add SMS to any phone number without changing your existing voice provider.

All of this ensures you have the right number for the job for whatever you want to build.

Get Outbound Calls Answered with Localized Numbers

When you make a phone call to someone, you want them to pick up. The trick is people don’t like to answer phone calls from unfamiliar numbers. The best way to increase your chances of getting a customer to pick up your call is to use a phone number in their local area. They’ll also be more likely to call you back on a number that doesn’t cost them long-distance charges. To enable you to provide a local experience in more countries around the world we’re releasing new SMS and Voice numbers.

Available today through the Twilio Console and the Phone Number API:

• Voice numbers in: Chile, Colombia, Panama, and Thailand

Available by request as Developer Preview:

• Voice numbers in: Algeria, Georgia, Ghana, Indonesia, Macau, Mali, Pakistan, Trinidad, Ukraine
• SMS numbers in: Brazil, Croatia, Guatemala, Philippines, and Singapore

If you are building a Twilio app that makes outbound calls such as CRM dialers or anonymous communications,  a local experience is a must.

Increase Inbound Calls with Toll-Free Numbers

Even when someone is on a phone plan that includes long-distance, they are still more likely to get in touch with businesses on their 800 number. Toll-free numbers represent a professional brand and make sense when you want one number to advertise nation-wide. There are some solutions, like contact centers and conference calling, where toll-free is expected. To make sure you get more calls from your customers around the world we’re releasing toll-free numbers in 27 new countries.

Available on-demand through the Twilio Console and the Phone Number API:

• Toll-free numbers in: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland

Available by request as Developer Preview:

• Toll-free numbers in: France, India, Italy, and Singapore

Paying a Fair Rate for Toll-free Calls

Previously, when you looked at our pricing page you’d see one rate to receive toll-free calls.

But this isn’t how toll-free works in many countries around the world. Carriers will often charge a different rate based on the type of phone that is calling the number. For example, in Germany it costs less to receive a toll-free call from a landline phone than a mobile phone. A single “blended” flat rate doesn’t accurately represent this. This means that you could end up paying more than you need to.

So today we are happy to introduce pricing based on the inbound caller type. You’ll now see two prices listed, one for mobile and one for landline, when you view pricing for countries that use caller type billing: Ireland, Germany, Italy, Brazil, New Zealand, Spain, and Switzerland. We believe this is a more transparent and fair way to price. So that you pay for exactly what you use.

Hosted SMS: Add SMS to any number without changing a thing

For many business transactions people prefer to text rather than call. In fact, every day people text businesses at their existing numbers and never get a response because the numbers aren’t set up to receive text messages. Now, with Twilio™ Hosted SMS you can SMS enable your existing US and Canada numbers without changing how your voice phone calls work.

Twilio makes this happen by setting up a dual-routing configuration within the telephone network. When a call comes in to your number the carrier knows to route it to your existing voice provider. When a text comes in to the same number, the carrier knows to route it to Twilio. With the Hosted SMS API you can completely automate the process of SMS enabling voice numbers that you own.

To get started

• Request access to the Hosted SMS developer preview
• Check out the Hosted SMS Quickstart guide
• View the Hosted SMS API Docs

We can’t wait see see what you build!